By Amos Aar
ABUJA-based online newspaper, National Record, on Wednesday and Thursday held a 2-day training/capacity-building workshop on ‘Investigative and Accountability Journalism’ with participants drawn from different media organisations.
Welcoming participants at the opening session of the programme on Tuesday, Iduh L. Onah, the publication’s Editor-in-Chief, said the workshop is funded by the McArthur Foundation through the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under a project called the ‘Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability.’
Mr Onah further revealed that the WSCIJ designed the project as a multi-level intervention for media independence to hold to account government at all levels, public servants, private organisations and individuals, particularly all persons in positions of authority for their actions and inactions.
He said the collaborative effort with WSCIJ is aimed at equipping journalists and their media organisations involved in the project to be more professional and proactive in their constitutional role, particularly in the sensitive field of investigative reporting.
According to the Editor-in-Chief, National Record‘s focus area in collaborative media project is tracking issues of child labour, abuse of workers rights, workplace sexual abuse/harassment, forced labour, including abuse of rights of marginalised groups such as women, youth and people with disabilities as well as harmful environmental activities by national and multinational corporations in local communities.
In his remark, project’s consultant, Comrade John Odah, commended National Record and WSCIJ for organising the workshop to refresh and strengthen the skills of journalists.
Odah, whose remark was presented by the programme officer, Ms Theresa Abah, noted that the advancement of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has made it easier for online publishing hence the proliferation of such media outlets, and stressed on the need for online organisations to adhere to the ethics of the traditional newspaper to be able to excel.
Odah, who asserted that National Record was blazing a new frontier of specialised journalism in its focus on labour and generally the industrial relations sector, expressed optimism that the training would give the organisation the desired professional skill empowerment.
Day one of the programme featured presentations by Dr Theophilus Abbah, Programme Director, Daily Trust Foundation, Abuja and Mr Idris Akinbajo, the Managing Editor, PREMIUM TIMES, Abuja.
While Abbah spoke on the topic, “Investigative Reporting: Ethical Issues to Consider in Mapping, Sourcing and Writing the Story,” Akinbajo, on his part, drilled participants on the topic: “Investigative, Accountability Journalism and How to Keep Safe in the Process.” The third resource person, a reporter with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Ejekwonyilo Ameh, dwelt on two other topics, namely; “Deploying Multimedia Tools in Investigative Reporting” and “Practical Realities in Pitching Investigative Story Ideas.”
The event which saw participants arriving on Monday, May 9th 2022, and held at the De-Georges Grand Resorts, Nyanya-Karshi Road, Jikwoyi, Abuja, ended on Thursday.
